Shaman
by Arcole
Summary: The group is being tracked by a ZED. Can the planet help them stop it before it stops them? This is Season 2, Episode 4 in my current project to at least give us another season of Earth 2--what a great show!
1. Chapter 1

Shaman

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Earth 2. But I'm busy writing new episodes just like it was mine, all mine. evil laughter

This is Episode 4 in my version of Season 2—read "Blast from the Past," "Bess's Adventures in Wonderland," and "The Lotus Eaters" before this one. Many thanks for the reviews! I am glad to know you're reading. Keep letting me know. 

Chapter One

_Walman VO: Day 164 on this godforsaken hunk of rock. At least we're bunked in a place that seems almost like civilization. Cameron keeps churning out great meals, the beds are soft, and I've almost got used to the hot water showers—almost. _

_Danz has got everybody is working on this whole mysterious sickness thing. Maybe they are making progress, maybe not. Most of it goes over my head. _

_I never had any med training during my military hitch. I was a grunt. On the Roanoke I was a grunt. Cargo stevedore, general maintenance flunky. Danz was a grunt too, but he always worked hard to get ahead so his kid could have a chance to be something else. I don't have any kids to work for. I figured when I died, the station brass could take my debt and shove it up their ass. _

_But now on this planet, everything's different. I'm not a grunt anymore. "You're a valued member of the team," Adair always told us crew. A valued member of HER team. Now I'm a valued member of Danziger's team. I wish I could say it was better with him in charge, and for a while it was. But Danz is weirding out on us. That glowing rock did something to him—changed him. Solace hasn't been himself since we landed, and I'd gotten used to that. But seeing Danz slide off into Weirdsville bothers me. Magus and Baines too, but I don't know if they'd admit it yet. _

Terry Walman lay asleep in his bed, awake but unwilling to move from the soft depths of his pillow. So far, no one had said anything more about leaving the colony and he was certainly not going to bring it up. He figured they had it made. 

The air conditioning unit made a soft hum as it blew newly filtered, perfect temperature, lightly scented air across his back and shoulders. The windowless room had begun to lighten a while ago as the computer generated false dawn, just like on the stations, even though there was a real dawn somewhere outside the walls. 

The quarters he was sharing with Baines were spacious, downright palatial compared to the units he'd always rented back on the stations. This was the single biggest bed he'd ever slept on in his life and the most comfortable to boot. 

He'd be perfectly happy to spend the rest of his days planted right in this spot. He could get a little planet outside when he wanted, then he could retreat back into the comforts of something better than any home he'd ever known. 

He heard a knock, which he ignored, then the door to his room opened. 

"Get up, Walman," Magus's voice interrupted his slumber. 

"What for?" he replied, rolling over away from her voice. 

"Danziger wants us to meet him in the ops center," she said.

"Let me guess, he wants the rover refitted—again," Walman complained tiredly. 

"Word on the street from Danner is that we'll be going on a scout," Magus continued. 

"A scout for what? A pass through the mountains? We're sitting on the edge of a huge open plain," Walman answered, pulling the covers around his ears. 

Her reply made a chill run down his back. "Nope, she thinks we're going ZED hunting." 

**Roll opening credits.**

At the word ZED, Walman rolled over to look at her. Sure enough, Magus was geared out for an expedition. "Why would we go hunting for a ZED?" he asked incredulously. "It's bad enough when they find us. There's no reason to go looking for trouble." 

"Danner thinks trouble is on its way whether we like it or not," Magus said, slapping him lightly on the bare shoulder. He ignored the little buzz her touch gave him. They'd been together as a couple, so to speak, off and on since this whole adventure began, but he wasn't one to rush things and apparently she wasn't either. 

So far, they had a good understanding—a quiet understanding but a good one. Nobody pushes, nobody runs. Interestingly, Julia had begun supplying all the men with suppressors—no questions asked—several months ago. 

He figured she was covering for her and Solace, or maybe trying to set something up for Danz and Adair. That, he thought, was pretty damned hilarious. Adair would be better off with a Terrian than that cranky son of a bitch. Walman had learned a long time ago not to piss him off. Danz could assign you the most meaningless maintenance at the most unholy hours if pushed. 

"Come on, Terry," Magus pushed at him again. "It'll be good to get out for a bit—it'll give us something fun to do." 

"Are you packing a decent bedroll?" he asked, turning to look at her suggestively. 

"Yep, three. You, me, and Mazatyl," she answered with a grin as his face fell. 

"Why does the architect have to come?" Walman groaned. 

"Mazatyl's becoming a decent footsoldier," Magus replied. "Cut him some slack. He's trying hard. And you're hardly trying. Get your lazy ass up and come on."

Walman groaned again and rolled out of bed and into the bathroom. A day or two on the trail and he would really appreciate the showers again, he thought, even more than he already did. 

Several minutes later, Walman joined Magus and Mazatyl in the Ops Center of the compound. Danner sat before the communications terminal and Danziger leaned back against a nearby wall. Trust him to be standing while everyone else was seated, Walman thought. That meant he was about to impart something serious. 

"Glad you could finally join us, Walman," Danziger began, an evil sweetness to his voice. "Danner turned up something on the big dish." He turned to her, "Fill us in."

Danner tapped at the terminal input and a string of communications code began to roll across. "These are communications from somewhere in orbit down to our general area," she began. "However, they aren't directed to this dish. Decoding them has been a problem—according to Yale, they seem to be an ops procedure change for a soldier—most likely a ZED." 

"Best guesses?" Danziger asked the group. 

"Riley's contacting a ZED with a procedure change?" Magus asked. "The last ZED's job was to torture and kill us one by one for information on the planet. What more could Riley want?" 

"That's the big question," Danziger replied. "What does he want? We've got to lay some perimeter alerts at enough distance to let us know if this ZED is getting within firing range. The last thing we want to do is be pinned down in this compound with no cover while he's taking us out one by one." 

"How close does he seem to be based on Riley's transmissions?" Mazatyl asked. 

"We think maybe five miles out in a northerly direction," Danner responded. "That's the best I can guess from triangulation. If we can catch the ZED's acknowledgment signal, we can pinpoint it even more clearly." 

"Suggestions?" Danziger asked.

"Let's get out there and take him out before he gets close enough to take us out," Walman ventured. "I hate long waits." 

"I agree," said Magus. "It's a huge risk, but maybe we can take him by surprise." 

"You guys are nuts," Danner interjected. "A ZED can hear the vibrations of your footsteps. He can sense any kind of technology or weaponry a mile off. How can you even think of sneaking up on him?" 

"We did it before," Walman replied. "It's just going to take a little planning." 

"And a lot of guts," Magus added. 

When the entire group--less the children, who were safely ensconced in the vid room--gathered to hear the plan after breakfast, Morgan added his own sentiment to the idea. "It's going to take a lot of stupidity," he blurted. "It's a suicide mission." 

"Besides," Cameron commented, "which of us actually has enough experience in this kind of operation to do something like this? None of us is qualified to take on a ZED!" 

"Danz, Magus, Yale, and I have all seen military service in the infantry," Walman began. "Baines and Solace don't count because they did theirs in orbit flying us grunts around." 

"I resent that remark," Alonzo spoke up. "I did my time on the ground too. We all did. Count me in."

"But not Baines. His medic training is needed here," Danziger interjected. "Whatever is up with the ZED, we've still got to keep working on cracking this mystery illness before--" He broke off, everyone aware of the thought in his mind. True would be the first, then Alonzo according to the repeated warnings they'd gotten from the planet. 

Danziger moved on. "Yale needs to stay here with Morgan and keep working on decoding the operating system for those biostat implants. Julia thinks that understanding them is the next step to understanding this illness." 

"Danner keeps tracking the signal from orbit and watches for the reply from the ZED. She can triangulate it and let the hunters know where to find him," Danziger finished. 

"So me, Magus, Mazatyl, and Solace are on the hunt," Walman concluded. 

"And me," Bess's sweet voice added. 

"Absolutely not," came identical replies from both Morgan and Danziger. 

"I know you guys have military training and I know you've all been out hunting Grendler stashes and small game," Bess commented reasonably. "But I have the strong feeling that out of everybody in this room, I am the only one who has actually stalked and killed anything dangerous." 

"Bess," Morgan's horrified voice began, "what have you stalked and killed?" 

"Feral pigs and wild dogs," she answered as she picked at some fruit left from breakfast. 

"Pigs and dogs are not ZEDs," Morgan replied. "Why did you hunt pigs anyway?"

"A four hundred pound feral pig can destroy a garden in a matter of minutes," Bess answered. "Plus, they can be very dangerous when cornered and they eat anything. They were a terrible nuisance back home. We'd hunt them down if they got to be too much of a problem." 

"Did you eat them?" Cameron found himself asking, a slight sick feeling in his stomach.

"No, the meat was generally too contaminated to risk it," Bess replied. "Like I said, they'd eat anything." 

"So Bess will be joining us," Magus concluded. 

"No," Morgan and Danziger said in unison again. 

To everyone's interest, instead of debating Morgan over the issue, Bess turned to Danziger instead. "John, I think you know that I have skills that can help us out there," she said. "I need to go."

Danziger looked down at her and seemed to fight some inner battle. At last he gave in. "All right, but you stay in touch with us," he turned to face the rest of the group. "You all stay in touch. One person on gear with jumpers at enough distance to see the others and report. The rest of you can't use gear because the ZED will pick it up the electromagnetic field it gives off." He grimaced at the memory of the last ZED he'd run into crunching his gear practically into dust. 

"Bess, I really don't think you should do this," Morgan began, pulling at her arm. 

"I know what I'm doing, Morgan honey," Bess replied firmly. "None of this research is stuff I can help much with and I do know something about hunting. I'll be fine." She gave him a sunny smile. "Trust me." 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It was with hesitation that Walman had to agree that having Bess along on the hunt was a good idea. He had no idea she was so adept with unconventional hunting techniques. 

"Looking at the terrain around here," she'd commented, "I think a deadfall would be the perfect trap. There are plenty of steep hillsides and boulders to work with." Sure enough their northerly route took them back out of the open plains and into the wooded foothills of the mountains they'd just escaped from. 

"Hey, guys," Alonzo said from a perch on top of a particularly large boulder. "If we place the perimeter alerts through these woods, we'll know where he's coming through. If he leaves the woods, he'll either have to circle miles back around to find a way up the mountain that isn't nearly vertical or he'll have to come out onto the plain where there's no cover. The grass out there is still low enough that Zero will be able to spot him easy." 

They looked out across the vista Alonzo was describing. Then Bess had an idea. "Why don't we use the perimeter alerts as a sort of herding device. The ZED will know the alerts are there before he gets close enough to trigger them. We could set them in such a way that to go around them, he heads right where we want him to go," she suggested. 

"Right into a trap," Magus concluded. 

"Something like Bess's deadfall. That's so low tech he'd never pick up until he was right on it," Alonzo added. 

"Hey, guys," Walman called, "check this out." He'd spotted a tall bluff, right on the edge of the tree line. "If we string our alerts from this spot to out in the plain, we might get him. We can set the alert just far enough away to leave maybe eighteen inches of clearance—not enough to be suspicious, but enough to make him think we were working fast and got a little sloppy."

As Walman, Alonzo, and Bess constructed a savage deadfall, Mazatyl and Magus strung out the alerts in an arc between the bluff and the plain. After an hour of hard labor, they were set. All they needed was bait. 

At last Magus volunteered to serve as bait. She would talk to camp on gear from behind a set of boulders that should shield her from any oncoming projectiles from the ZED's assumed position. The ZED would know she was there and would come beneath the bluff, hitting the tripline that would trigger the fall of boulders they'd spent hard work destabilizing and propping up again. 

The rest of the group would watch from a distance over the jumpers, prepared to go in shooting with the magpro should the deadfall fail to immobilize the ZED. Mazatyl went on ahead with the jumpers and magpro to set up the observation position. 

"This is just damned cunning, guys," Walman sighed in gratification at their hard work. 

"I just hope it works," Alonzo responded. "We've only got one shot at this."

"To get to this spot from the position Danner gave us, he's either got to pass through our perimeter sensors or climb a sheer twenty foot bluff," Bess added. "It looks to be as good a spot as any we could come up with." 

"Danner to scouting party," came the chirp over the gear as Alonzo, Walman, and Bess prepared to leave the area.

"Magus here," Magus replied, figuring there was no time like the present to begin baiting the trap. 

"I've just picked up a reverse communication from the ZED to Riley," Danner responded. "Danziger is charting the signal now to give you his position relative to yours." 

"Okay, guys, I make him as--" Danziger's voice began. "Oh man, he's behind you guys. He's behind the perimeter already," he shouted in warning. "Drop the gear and run. Get back to camp now!" 

Back in the Ops Center, Danner and Danziger listened in horror as Magus responded affirmatively, but then cried out in fear and surprise. 

"Walman!" she screamed. Then they heard a rustle and commotion. "Run!" someone's voice—probably Alonzo's--could be heard in the background, followed by a choked cry. 

Danziger listened breathlessly as Magus ran through the underbrush. "Ditch the gear, Magus," he commanded her again, but she was apparently too upset to obey. 

At last, she seemed to stop, her breathing ragged and shallow. "He's not chasing me," she panted. 

"You can't know that," Danziger retorted harshly. "Ditch the gear and come back to camp." 

"No," she answered. "Mazatyl is here watching over the jumpers." 

"I can see the ZED back at the deadfall," Mazatyl said in the background. "He isn't pursuing us." 

"Take the jumpers, Magus," Danziger ordered quietly. "Hook the view into the POV." 

Danziger swung his eyepiece into place for visual and watched vicariously over the gear as Magus scanned the area. 

"Oh, no, Terry," she moaned as the jumpers focused in on Walman who lay crumpled beside a large boulder. 

"What else is there?" Danziger asked gently. "Keep looking, Magus." 

The view scanned about to reveal a large human form, clad in black armor. He'd once been a red haired man, but now he was a ZED, genetically altered and unstoppable. Behind him, Bess cowered on the ground, apparently unhurt. Alonzo lay on the ground beside her, also unmoving. 

"What's he doing?" Danziger asked, as much to himself as Magus. 

"I think he's talking to Bess," Magus answered, her voice quivering only a little as she fought for control. 

"Keep watching, Magus," Danziger ordered. "At the first sign that he's onto you and Mazatyl, dump the gear, the jumpers, and the magpro and get yourselves back here. Do you understand me?" he asked sternly. 

"I understand," she answered weakly. 

"We're on our way." Danziger hoped his words offered comfort to her at least. He did not look forward to what he had to do next. 

A few minutes later, Julia, Morgan, and Yale had joined him and Danner in the Ops Center. 

Without preamble, Danziger launched straight into the bad news. "The ZED's got them—Walman, Bess, and Alonzo. Magus and Mazatyl are watching from a distance." 

At Morgan's immediate reaction, Danziger held up his hand and continued, "Bess seems to be just fine. The ZED has been talking to her, but hasn't harmed her that we've been able to see." Then he turned to Julia. "Walman is injured but has been moving a little." He stopped and looked Julia straight in her blue eyes, vividly aware of the fear he could see there. "Alonzo hasn't moved. We don't know what is going on with him." 

"I'll get my equipment," she said roughly and left the room. 

She opened the door to exit, revealing True standing with a very subdued looking Uly. 

"What happened to Alonzo, Dad?" True asked in her direct fashion. 

"What makes you think anything has happened?" Danziger answered, wondering how they could possibly have known. 

"Uly, maybe you should tell him," True looked at Uly with a hint of accusation in her eye. 

"Lately, it's been like I could Dream with Alonzo when he wasn't asleep," Uly began. "He didn't know I was there, but I could kind of look in on him." 

"Eavesdropping in his mind?" Yale sounded shocked.

"Not really. I couldn't hear his thoughts or anything," Uly explained rapidly. "I just kind of knew where he was." 

Danziger wondered if he was getting the whole truth, but decided now was not the time to pursue it. "So what do you get now when you try to Dream to him?" he knelt down to get on Uly's eye level. He didn't want to scare him, but he did want to know. 

Uly looked at him with a deep hurt in his eyes. "I don't get anything," he whispered. "Is Alonzo okay?"

"We sure hope so, Uly. You keep listening for him to tune back in and let me know when he does, all right?" Danziger responded as positively as he could considering that Uly's words had sent a chill down his spine. 

Then he included True in his look and addressed the both of them. "Julia, Morgan, and I have to go out to see if we can help the scouting party. You two are going to stay here with Cameron, Yale, and Danner. Uly, I want you to listen for Alonzo and let us know if you hear him. True, I want you to help Cameron and Yale with whatever they ask you to do. Danner is going to be in here relaying communications between us all. Can you two take care of that for me?" 

The two children nodded and he sent them off to find Cameron. They left the room just as Julia re-entered, her backpack of medical equipment on her shoulders and a look of fierce determination coupled with deep worry on her face.

"Danziger, what are we going to do?" Morgan began desperately. "How did that ZED get behind them? Danner, I thought you had him pinpointed outside the grid."

"I did," she answered defensively. "He must have known where they were and circled back around them." 

"Which brings up the question, how did he know where they were?" Yale asked. 

"I think I might have an answer for that," Julia responded. "Riley as much as admitted that we were in a blackout area that he couldn't surveil until we came upon Bennett's ship. I think we're back in his range, and he's using the biostat implants to track us. That's what they're there for—to relay information on our health status to the station authorities." 

"What if they relay more than our health status?" Morgan asked with a paranoid edge. "What else could Riley know about us and what we're thinking?" 

"Who knows at this point," Danziger intervened. "But what's important is that the ZED can possibly get information from Riley on our whereabouts at all times. Danner, it is more important than ever that you and Yale crack the coded transmissions between Riley and the ZED. Find out what they're saying and let us know." 

"We could possibly use a little of the same support that Morgan used to break into the coded files left by the settlement's doctor," Yale suggested. 

"I don't think I could do it without Bess to help," Morgan replied. "I don't know if the planet would talk to me without her." 

"That gives me an idea," Danziger began. "Julia, take Baines and the ATV and home in on Magus's signal. Stay in touch with Danner on gear at all times though. I've got an idea I want to try out, but you need to be on your way there to help Walman and Alonzo." 

Julia nodded and quickly left the room, her lips pressed together tightly with suppressed emotion and worry. 

"I'm going with her," Morgan began to follow, but Danziger held him back by one arm. 

"No, you're staying here," Danziger commanded.

"That's my wife out there, Danziger," Morgan cried. "I have to help her." 

"I need you here to try to uncode those transmissions," Danziger responded firmly. "We've got to know what Riley is telling this ZED to do." 

"I can't do it without Bess," Morgan whined. "Like I've told you all over and over, the planet doesn't like me very much." 

"Yeah, but I like you, Morgan," Danziger said with an evil grin. 

Out on the trail, Walman could feel the bones in his broken hip and ribs grind against themselves any time he tried to move or even breathe. The pain was excruciating and several times he nearly passed out as he attempted to adjust his position on the hard ground. 

When the ZED had attacked them, it first tossed Walman aside against a boulder, then threw Alonzo headlong into a tree. His head had hit the tree with a sick crunch. Walman tried to watch for signs that he was still breathing, but from his position on the ground, all he could see was Alonzo's legs, which hadn't moved. 

He also couldn't see Bess, but could hear the ZED as it spoke to her. 

"Your name," it asked. 

"Bess Martin," she answered weakly. 

"Bess Martin, how have you altered your biostat implant?" it asked. 

"I haven't altered anything," she answered. 

"You will answer my questions or I will be forced to begin interrogation procedures," the ZED responded. Then it paused as if receiving a communication. "I have been ordered to remove you from this area for questioning and examination," the ZED continued in his flat, emotionless voice. 

"I will now terminate the other prisoners," it began. Walman could see the ZED's boots as they rounded the boulder he lay beside. 

"No," he managed to whisper through the pain. 

The ZED knelt down into view, extending his cybernetic hand, which now sported some kind of needle. 

"Do not struggle," the ZED began. "The pain will be less if you do not struggle against it." 

As the needle approached his neck, Walman tried to protest, but found he had neither breath nor strength to do it. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"No, don't please!" Bess begged. The ZED paused just short of giving Walman the lethal injection. Pressing her advantage, she begged, "If you won't hurt them, I'll tell you in detail exactly how I have altered my biostat implant." 

The ZED raised up and cocked his head a moment as if listening. "I have been ordered to give the prisoners a temporary reprieve in order to secure your cooperation," it replied evenly. "But I must warn you, any attempt to falsify your information will be apparent to me and I will see that these prisoners pay the price." 

Bess took a deep breath. How could she possibly buy them all the time they needed for the others to rescue them and tell the truth without jeopardizing the group or telling the ZED more than they wanted Riley to know? 

"It's a really, really long story," she began sweetly, "but you need to hear all of it in order to understand." 

Then she settled back against a large rock and began talking, "Once upon a time, we all crash landed on this planet. Shortly after we landed, my husband Morgan and I found a geolock box in a Grendler's stash. Do you know what a geolock is?" she asked, as if talking to a small child. 

The ZED looked less than amused. "The operations of a geolock mining claimstake device are not relevant to the changes you have made in your biostat implant," he began. "Your failure to remain relevant will result in punishment applied to this prisoner." 

The ZED rose and proceeded to kick the bottom of Walman's boot, sending a wave of agony crashing through his broken hip. Walman groaned pitifully and turned white with pain. 

"Stop it!" Bess yelled. "Riley, I know you're listening! Call off your dog here and let me tell the story. You have no way of knowing what is relevant. This is all relevant! Get him to check and see if I'm telling the truth!" 

The ZED paused again to listen, then said, "Proceed." 

"Riley, make him sit down where he can't reach Walman or Alonzo. He's making me nervous. If he makes me nervous, I might forget something important," Bess continued firmly. 

The ZED slowly moved to take a seat on a fallen log. "I am being ordered to tell you that your full cooperation is necessary to keep these conditions in force. The moment we believe you are not revealing the entire truth, I will continue the interrogation through previous means. Do you understand?" 

Bess looked at him directly, hiding the fear she felt. "I understand completely. I will tell you everything I know about how my biostat implant has been changed. In return you will allow me to tell the story my way. Do you agree that I am being honest with you?"

"Proceed," the ZED said flatly. 

Bess could hear Walman's labored breathing as he struggled to remain conscious. She tried to make eye contact with him, but his eyes were squeezed shut against the pain. "Walman, it's going to be okay," she called to him, but got no response. So she took a deep breath of her own and began telling her story. 

"Once upon a time, my husband Morgan and I discovered a geolock claimstaking device. We carried that thing for hundreds of kilometers without a break. One day, however, we discovered something that made the geolock seem to be worth all the trouble," Bess's soothing voice washed over him as Walman finally passed out completely. 

Back in Ops, Morgan found himself backing away nervously from Danziger. "What do you mean, you like me? You hate me," he stammered. 

"No, I don't hate you," Danziger replied. "I used to despise you, but you've come a long way, Martin. Now, I'm going to try to reach the planet the way Bess does and see if I can't link you into her to break this code." 

Danziger closed his eyes and concentrated. He tried to imagine a sunstone in his hand. He tried to move his awareness back into that Dreaming state he'd come to know and tolerate. Nothing. 

"Damn, I wish Bess was here," he finally blurted in frustration. 

"So do I, believe me," Morgan answered. 

"Even Alonzo would be of help right now," Danziger continued. Then he realized that Alonzo might be further away from them than they wanted to think about, and he recommitted himself to attempting to reach the planet. 

"Hello," he called, feeling pretty foolish, but willing to give anything a shot to stop that ZED. 

"Bess calls her Mom," Morgan added helpfully. 

Danziger shot Morgan a look of pure annoyance, then shrugged his shoulders. Anything was worth a shot. "Mom?" he called, imagining the stone, calling for it. "Please come help us." 

Nothing. 

Danziger pushed his mind out to the power generator, setting the image of the stone in his thoughts. "Please listen to me. Bess needs your help. Alonzo too. We're in trouble." Suddenly the world went white around him and he realized he'd done it. He was on the Dreamplane. 

The sunstone was in his hand and thoughts and images washed over and through him. He could tell why Bess pretty much lost it the first time she'd been in that kind of contact with the planet. John could also tell why Bess called her Mom. The Terrians called the planet The Mother, but for a human, that was too formal, too stilted to get across the level of interest the planet had for them. 

He realized for the first time why the sunstone had called him, why it had sought to know them. The planet thought they were interesting. He found this realization profoundly humbling. 

He did his best to send images and thoughts of their pressing need. How they had to find a way to understand the ZED's orders so they could make a plan to disable it. The planet did not care for the ZEDs at all, he soon came to find out. ZEDs were not reachable. They had far too many things inside them that interfered with the Dreaming or other contact. 

They had committed unspeakable acts against those they encountered. They had killed penal colonists that were Dreaming with her Terrian children, at least to the ability they could Dream. They had also killed many of her Terrian children, much to her grief and anger. 

An image of Yale flashed before John's awareness and he knew that the planet was saying that Yale had much in common with the ZEDs. "But he's not like them," John replied. "Yale doesn't do the things they do. You helped him unlock his memory and he knows he's not forced to obey his programming any more." 

The planet considered his words, then responded with the idea that if Yale understood the ZEDs, perhaps he understood how to change their programming as well. Perhaps he could show her the path into the ZED to unlock his memories and set him free. 

"Even if the ZED was free of his programming, we don't know what kind of person he was," John countered. "He might be like the penal colonists who committed crimes against the Terrians." He allowed an image of Gaal to filter through their link. 

She considered his words, then flashed a picture of the Elder back to him. Her children knew this one well and Dreamed with him. He was redeemable. The ZED might be redeemable as well. John began to protest, but she showed him a flicker of himself shooting the Grendler mother. He knew that he too had been judged redeemable. Again, he felt a profound humility that a creature as massive and as intelligent as this would be at all interested in him. 

He agreed to her plan. 

"Morgan," Danziger's voice murmured, stirring Morgan from his dark thoughts. 

"Finally," Morgan sighed. "I'd about given up on you getting through." 

"Come here," Danziger never even opened his eyes, but still reached out his hand toward him. 

"You and Yale link up over VR with the communications dish and the system. Mom's going to help you reprogram that ZED," Danziger replied. 

"Are you kidding?" Morgan practically squealed in horrified disbelief. 

"Do it," Danziger responded in a tone he usually reserved for True when she was being disobedient. 

In a moment, they each had on their gear and Danner had completed the link into the system and dish. 

"I'm in," Morgan said resignedly. 

"I'm in," Yale echoed, a hint of excitement underlying his usually even tones. 

"I still don't know, Danziger," Morgan added cautiously. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" 

"Be quiet, Morgan," he heard Danziger say from behind him. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and the link with the stone came to life inside him. 

"Am I Dreaming?" Yale asked reverently. "Is this what it feels like?" 

"You're there, Yale," Danziger said inside his head. "You guys get busy cracking that code. Yale, see what kind of deprogramming information you come up with. Mom will be there to help you process it." 

The Dreamscape had taken on that digital quality that came with linking the planet to the technological, using a human go-between. It quite frankly made his head swim to watch, but John could see that Morgan and Yale were quite comfortable. 

Since he was not needed at the moment, he considered what Uly had said. He'd been able to contact Alonzo before. Maybe John could do it now with the sunstone's backing and assistance. 

He cast himself out there into the Dreamplane, looking for his friend. "Alonzo!" he called. He held the image of him, smiling in that devil may care way he had. Nothing. With a cold realization, he knew what that probably meant. Alonzo was either dead or too badly injured to Dream. That would mean he was so close to death that any chance he had lay with their finishing their job on the ZED fast. 

Then he wondered if he could reach Bess the same way. 

"Bess," he called. 

To his surprise came an immediate response. "John, is that you?" she answered, and he could see her there in the Dreamplane sitting on a rock in the wooded area where they'd set their deadfall. 

"Yes, are you all right?" he asked. 

"I'm fine, but it's hard to Dream and talk at the same time. Let me get back to my story," she said distractedly. 

He waited and within several seconds she was back with him. "I'm going to try to keep talking to this ZED while we talk. Morgan says I'm good with several things at once that way," she said lightly, her cheer an obvious attempt to cover her fear. 

"How are Walman and Alonzo?" he asked. 

"Walman's hurt pretty badly, but in and out of consciousness. Alonzo is breathing, but only barely. I think he has a serious head injury," she said with deep concern. "Is Julia on her way?" 

"Let me tell them what's going on, okay?" John replied. 

He spoke to Danner on the outside. "Danner, get Julia on gear and tell her that Alonzo is hurt badly, but still alive. Bess thinks he has a head injury. Walman is also badly hurt but sometimes conscious." 

Danner considered his words and what she was seeing in the room. Morgan and Yale appeared to be working on the system and hanging out on VR—totally understandable to her eyes. Danziger, however, was just standing there over them, his eyes closed and in communication with Bess somehow. This bothered her on a level she hadn't even been aware of before. But she bit back her discomfort and called Julia up on gear.

They must have pushed the ATV to its limit because Julia and Baines had already reached the spot where Magus and Mazatyl were watching from. So far, their report hadn't changed. The ZED and Bess were still in conversation, Walman moving just the least bit, and Alonzo completely still. 

"Listen, doc," Danner began cautiously, "Danziger had a message he wanted me to give you." She filled her in, noting the near lack of surprise from the doctor as she realized that the information had come from Bess, who was sitting a hundreds of yards away from any gear or means of communication—normal communication at least. 

Julia listened to Danner, relief that Alonzo was still alive warring with worry that he was so badly injured. "Doc," Danner's voice cut into her thoughts, "did you hear me? Danziger said that Bess had told him this. Do you think that's reasonable? Should I be worried about these people?"

"Danner," Julia replied, "I don't care who told John that Alonzo is still alive. Angels, glowing rocks, fairies, whatever. I believe him. I am not worried about John." 

But as she considered the pilot's still form over the jumpers, she did admit one thing. She was desperately worried about Alonzo. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Bess continued her narrative to the ZED, dragging things out as much as she could, but still including all the relative information—at least as it related to the link with the sunstones. 

"So, there we were, trapped by the Terrians and Yale was busy losing his mind," she continued. "I just want you to know I was terrified." She shuddered, as much to buy time as from any remembered terror. In fact, she was far more terrified by the ZED that moment than anything else she could think of. 

She then deliberately included a vivid description of Yale's breaking his memory wash by being in contact with the stones. If there was anything else she wanted Riley to know, it was that sending a ZED to bother any sunstones would probably result in their suffering a complete breakdown on the programming level. That, she hoped, would keep him from sending any ZEDs or similarly mindwashed individuals to bother Mom. 

The narrative had come to the part where Morgan was about to break the geolock code using himself as a link between the geolock and the intelligence of the sunstones. 

"I must remind you that your narrative will remain relevant in order to prevent the suffering of this prisoner," the ZED interrupted, apparently on order from Riley.

"Oh, trust me, this is extremely relevant. In fact, it was right then as Morgan linked into the VR gear that the first change began to happen," Bess continued. 

The ZED continued to listen as she described how Morgan had somehow communicated with the stones over the VR gear to break the abort code of the geolock, freeing the Terrian and depetrifying the earth. 

She took a deep breath, then launched into as vivid a description as she could manage of the encounter with the first flowers of spring. "I know, I know, it doesn't seem relevant, but it is," she explained as the ZED showed the first signs of impatience with her change of focus. 

Suddenly, the ZED stiffened. "You will temporarily suspend your narrative, Bess Martin," the ZED began. He looked a bit distracted for a moment, then rose and began to circle the area as if seeking something. 

Then John was in her thoughts again, Dreaming to her. "Bess, what's going on with the ZED?" he asked.

"He's wandering around like he's looking for something," she responded, keeping one part of her alertness on the ZED. 

"Morgan and Yale have found a way to interrupt his communication with Riley," John explained. "But doing that has also cut us off because we aren't able to bounce the signal down to him. We think we've found a way to reprogram his orders, but we've lost contact." 

John paused a moment, then seemed to look outside the Dreamplane. When he began talking again, he seemed to be addressing someone else on the Dreamplane—she opened more of her concentration to the Dreamscape and caught vague images of Morgan and Yale on the periphery. "Danner says that Julia wants us to be sure to disable the suicide function, then go for a simple shutdown," John informed them. 

"Could we relay the commands through Julia's gear?" Bess asked. 

"It's too far away to be sure we'd make the link," John responded. 

"Then how about we use me," Bess suggested. "So far we're doing pretty good at being able to speak to each other. Maybe Mom could send the reprogramming through us. She pulled you and Morgan into the VR without any physical contact before. Maybe if I get close enough to the ZED, she could pull him into our link." 

"It's too risky," came John's gut reaction. "It might not work at all, and you'd be placing yourself in danger." 

"I'm already in danger, John," Bess replied. "Plus, who knows how much longer Alonzo and Walman are going to be able to go without help. I think we have to risk it. Ask Mom what she thinks." 

Bess tuned back into the ZED, who was still wandering the area, looking for his lost communications signal. She took that as a good sign. Walman's eyes were open, but he didn't appear to be fully conscious. Alonzo's chest still rose and fell, but very slowly. He looked bad. She could see blood on the ground beneath his head. 

"What does Mom think?" Bess asked again. 

"She's good with it," came John's reply. "Don't sneak up on him though. Make it deliberate, otherwise his defensive reaction might take your head off. I'm going to tell Julia what's going on. You just wait for my signal to move."

As Danziger relayed the plan to Julia, Morgan couldn't help but overhear. "Keep working on that suicide abort, Yale," he said, then took a step in the Dreamscape toward Danziger. 

"No," Morgan began angrily, "I won't let you do this to Bess." 

"I know how you feel," Danziger began. 

"No, you don't know!" Morgan shouted at him. "She's my wife, not yours. Would you let True do something this foolhardy?" 

"That's not fair, Morgan, and you know it," Danziger retorted angrily. "Bess is plenty capable of making up her own mind in this." Then he continued more gently, "I don't like it any more than you do, but but it's probably the only chance Walman and Alonzo have—not to mention Bess herself. Do you really want that ZED to take her and start experimenting on her to find out why her implant has been acting weird lately?" 

Morgan thought a moment. "No, I don't," he finally answered in resignation. 

"She'll be okay, I promise. Mom and I won't let anything happen to her," Danziger strove to be as reassuring as possible, knowing he was lying through his teeth, knowing there was no way he could make any guarantees. Not to Morgan, not to Bess, not to himself. 

"You and Yale finish that shutdown sequence. We need to move fast," Danziger commanded as soon as he could see that Morgan had pulled himself back together. 

Apparently the bureaucrat took his task to heart because within only a few moments, he signaled to Danziger that they'd finished the job. Morgan spoke up, "The suicide abort has to load first, then the shutdown command. If we do them the other way around, the shutdown will probably trigger the suicide program." 

Then Yale added, "I've also cued up an immobilization code as the first item. Hopefully that will keep him still while we try to run the rest of the scripts." 

Danziger relayed all this information to Bess through their Dream link and to Julia over gear. He felt like he was finally getting the hang of speaking with Danner in the room, with Bess on the Dreamplane, and with Julia over gear without losing his marbles. 

He was glad to hear the steadiness in Julia's voice as she replied, "I'm ready to move in with Baines and Magus as soon as we see the ZED go down. Mazatyl is going to keep us under surveillance with the jumpers on POV. He's still got the magpro if needed." 

Danziger withdrew his awareness from the outside world and centered all his attention on the sunstone in his hand. "Bess," he called to her, "how's our boy?"

"Still distracted," she answered. "He's apparently decided to wait for renewed communication before continuing his little chat with me." 

"Good. Can you get close enough to touch him?" Danziger asked. 

"I'm working my way up to that. Bring everyone together so the minute I make contact, we can move," she replied. 

Bess opened her eyes to the outside world, still aware that John was with her on one level, watching out for her. "Hey, guy," she said to the ZED in the friendliest voice she could imagine. "Since we're on a break for a moment, I sure could use a break, if you know what I mean." 

The ZED looked down at her with disinterest. She noticed for the first time that he had really pretty eyes, a vivid green that would have once gone beautifully with his red hair. In fact, under all that ZED stuff, he was a pretty handsome guy. That gave her an idea. 

"You have really pretty eyes," she began and slowly started her approach. Back in her mind, she could actually hear John scoff. She mentally shushed him and continued. "I mean that, they are really pretty." 

"Eye color is irrelevant," the ZED stated emotionlessly. "You will remain quiet until interrogation continues." 

"But I have to take a break," she said. "You know, relieve myself." 

"That is irrelevant to the interrogation," the ZED replied as Bess edged closer to him. 

"But I really have to go," she said softly. "Can I please just step behind that bush for just a second?" 

As she pointed toward the bush in question, she moved close enough to touch his elbow. The second her fingertips met the armor, she felt a rush of information and energy flood through her as the planet surged into her consciousness. She could also feel John's presence practically inside her. It was comforting, but very intimate. On the edges she could feel Morgan and Yale. 

The ZED jumped at her touch, grabbing her forearm and inadvertently completing the link between them. As power flowed through her and into the ZED, his hand clenched tight with a reflexive jerk and snapped the bones just above her wrist. 

The pain was excruciating and she screamed, both on the outside and on the Dreamplane. She could feel John's presence bearing her up under the pain as information continued to pour through her, the ZED's grip on her arm mercilessly frozen as the immobilization code loaded. 

She could hear and feel Morgan's terror for her as he begged John to break the link. 

"For God's sake, Danziger, he's hurting her! Make him stop!" Morgan yelled. Bess tried to speak to him, but the pain and the intensity of the link was too intense. She knew that John would not be able to answer him either as the both of them were drawn completely into the sunstone's power and the wave of command code that washed over and through them. For the link to work at all, it had to be overpowering and she certainly felt overpowered. 

At last, with a tidal wave of energy and information, the last of the commands loaded into the ZED's processing system and he collapsed to the ground, taking her with him by the unrelenting grasp on her arm. If she'd still been conscious, the pain from the fall would have been miserable. As it was, Bess had already been dragged far, far from reality when she hit the ground.

Through the jumpers, Mazatyl saw everything and gave them the signal to move. Julia felt as though she'd never run so fast in her life as she dashed to the area. Where to begin? She knew Bess's arm had to be broken from her own run in with a ZED's reflexes. Walman was alive, but who knew how badly injured. Alonzo . . . she didn't want to consider what she might find with Alonzo. 

Per their agreement, Baines immediately ran to Walman, using the secondary scanner to check his status. "He's stable for the moment," he shouted to Julia as she moved to Alonzo. 

Her diaglove ran over his body, finding only the head injury, but what she found made her breath snag in her chest. He had taken a tremendous blow to the head and the brain tissue had already begun to swell. She could only guess how much damage had been done by the nature of his pupils and his lack of responsiveness. Perhaps his brain had already begun to shut down all but the autonomic system. 

Desperately, she shot him full of repair nanites and proteins designed to patch blood vessels and inhibit bruising on the brain. If it wasn't too late, they could arrest the damage process, hopefully before the damage became irreversible. 

The damage to the skull itself would have to wait, she decided, until the condition of his brain became stabilized. 

Magus, after shooting an intense look back at Walman and receiving a thumbs up from Baines, bent to examine the ZED and check on Bess who was still unconscious, her arm turning purple in the ZED's grip. She managed to pry his fingers loose and carefully freed Bess's hand. 

"Julia, this looks really awful," she said without thinking, then regretted disturbing the doctor. Alonzo's life was more important than a broken arm.

But Julia came to her anyway, and when Magus looked up at her, Julia just responded distantly, "I've done all I can for Alonzo right at this moment." 

Examining Bess's arm, the doctor continued, "This will be difficult to set. I'll have to do it back at the compound. Just try to immobilize it as best you can." She ran the diaglove over Bess's head, then stated, "I'd go ahead and painblock her, but I don't know why she hasn't regained consciousness. Let me know if she begins to wake up." 

Julia then turned to Baines and Walman. 

"I get multiple rib fractures and a broken pelvis. I've painblocked him, but I don't know where to begin to set all this stuff," Baines sighed. "He's also got a pretty good contusion on his spleen, but I can't see that it's bleeding internally." 

Julia ran the diaglove over Walman's body, checking the results carefully. "I think there is a small bleed on the anterior side," she said, pressing an injection into Walman's neck. "The proteins ought to handle it easily. Meanwhile, we're going to need at least three stretchers and some help getting folks out of here." 

"Julia to base, Danziger, are you there?" she said, crossing back over to Alonzo to check for any signs of improvement. 

"Danner, here," came the woman's reply. "Danziger, Morgan, and Yale are all unconscious, Julia," she continued, fear evident in her voice. "No, wait," she said, "Yale is beginning to come around." 

"If they don't all wake up soon, let me know," Julia responded. "Meanwhile, send Cameron out with four stretchers on the rover to our coordinates. Everybody's alive, but nobody's mobile. You stay there with the guys and let me know how they're doing." 

Back in the ops center, Yale was indeed the first to surface. His head pounded and all his muscles ached. Even his cybernetic implants gave feedback of the most annoying nature. He looked down to see that Morgan too was stirring. 

"Bess," Morgan groaned. "Is Bess okay?"

"Julia says that everybody's alive, but nobody's mobile," Danner answered. "I've just sent Cameron out on the rover with four stretchers." 

Morgan held his head in his hands, trying to still the pounding. "Danziger," he called weakly, looking over at the tall mechanic. 

Danziger lay on the floor, completely limp. "Hey, wake up," Morgan called again, ignoring the shooting pains that passed through his eyeballs. "What happened to Bess?" he asked. 

"Danner, get Magus—find out how Bess is doing," Yale ordered gently. 

After a brief conversation, Danner relayed that the ZED had given Bess a badly broken arm, but that she'd not regained consciousness. "And neither has John," Yale stated sadly. 

"Wake up, you son of a bitch," Morgan growled. "If anything has happened to Bess, I swear--" he broke off seeing Danziger's eyes flutter a bit. 

"What's going on?" Danziger managed to mutter. 

"Bess is still out there unconscious. What did you do to her?" Morgan shouted, grabbing Danziger by the collar. 

Yale pulled him back, but Morgan pressed the attack. "I could feel it, Danziger. I could feel all that ungodly energy going through you and into her. What did you do to her?" 

"Morgan, please calm yourself," Yale instructed, his gentle tones warring with the iron grip he took on Morgan's arms. "Give him a moment." 

Carefully, Danziger sat up, cradling his head in his hands and trying to breathe through the pain. "I don't really know what happened to us," he managed to say. 

Slowly, Danziger reached for the link with the sunstone. It was still intact. The planet sent a soothing stream of congratulations and good will through him. Bess, he wondered. Was she still in touch as well? He felt along the Dreamscape for her presence. 

Finally, there she was, sleepy and fuzzy around the edges, but there. "It worked, Bess," he said weakly. "You can wake up now." 

"Give me a few more minutes to rest," she replied. "My arm is going to hurt awful bad when I go back. I'm just going to Dream a little longer." 

"Don't hang around in there too long," John answered. "Morgan's in a panic." 

"Tell him I'm okay, John. Will you please?" Bess asked then drifted away from him into the Dreamscape. 

Danziger somehow willed himself back to the ops center and opened his eyes to see a very distraught Morgan sitting there with the heels of his hands pressed into his eyes, rocking back and forth ever so slightly. 

"Hey," Danziger called softly. "Morgan, she's okay. I was just Dreaming with her. She told me to tell you she's okay." 

"Thank God," Morgan exhaled in deep relief. Then he looked up at Danziger and Danziger was a little surprised to see tears in his eyes. 

"Why you?" Morgan asked savagely. "Why are you the one with the crazy psychic link to Bess? I'm her husband. If anyone should be able to reach her in a Dream, it's me. Not you." 

"I don't know why," Danziger began, a little at a loss as to how to handle this. 

"I know one thing," Morgan continued angrily as he stood up. "I am going to see about Bess. You stay away from her, you hear me? Stay away from my wife!" And a more determined Morgan Martin than any of them had ever seen before marched out of the room. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Uly and True stood at the window of the compound and watched the rover approach. They strained for a glimpse of the ZED, but he was too close to the cab for them to see him. 

Instead they saw Morgan walking beside the huge vehicle, one hand resting on Bess's shoulder as she rode on a stretcher in the back. On the other side, they could see Magus and Baines. Julia knelt in the back next to Alonzo. 

"I still haven't heard anything," Uly whispered as they watched the men unload Alonzo's still form off the back of the rover. 

"He'll be okay, Uly," True tried to reassure him. "Julia knows what she's doing." 

The kids hung back around the edges of the activity, uncertain and worried as the doors of the medical laboratory closed on the group, leaving them shut off from the excitement inside. 

So they'd wandered around to the small outbuilding where Cameron, Mazatyl, and Danziger had imprisoned the completely unconscious ZED. They'd watched as Danziger left the other two men on guard and observation duty while he returned to the med lab to check on the others. 

Trailing quietly, they'd stood in the open doorway to see that Bess had finally come around. After Julia set her arm, Morgan escorted her back to their quarters, one arm protectively cast about her shoulders. True noticed the cold look he shot back across the room at her father as they exited. 

At last someone noticed their presence and Yale quietly gathered the children from the doorway and escorted them away. "Let's give everybody some time to recover," he suggested. 

When he saw that they were leaving, Danziger crossed the room to speak to them. "You guys have been tremendous help," he said. "I mean that." 

"Dad, we haven't done anything," True responded with quiet cynicism.

"Uly, you're still listening for Alonzo, right?" Danziger asked. When Uly nodded, he continued, "True, you're still helping out wherever you're needed, right?" She nodded as well. "That's all anybody could ask. You're being part of the team and I appreciate it. Now you guys go with Yale. We'll let you know if anything changes, okay?"

Julia watched the children leave, glad that Danziger had taken time to tend to them. She had felt so overwhelmed by the pressures on her that their well-being had never even crossed her mind. 

Now she looked down at Alonzo, feeling completely helpless. There was only so much she could do for him and she'd done it. Now she waited. Her reign on her emotions tightly held, she turned her doctor's focus to her other patient.

Walman was doing better, she thought. He'd managed to smile and laugh a little with Magus, who hadn't left his side. 

"I just want to get out of here and go back to bed," Walman was saying. "It's been a bitch of a day."

Julia interrupted him. "You're going to stay in here overnight until all these bones have a chance to knit. Thank heavens some of you actually obeyed directives to get a bone healer vaccine before departure," Julia forced herself to keep her tone light, bantering with Alonzo even though he was too far away from consciousness to hear her. 

"You don't ship out anywhere that Danz is Chief of Ops without it," Walman began weakly. 

Seeing that Walman wasn't up to it, Magus finished the story, "It's been SOP for Danziger's crews ever since he fell off a second floor gantry and broke his leg without the vaccine."

"Wentworth pushed me," Danziger added from his spot across the room next to Alonzo. "Well, technically, she was falling and I caught her but dropped myself." 

Julia gave them a little smile, then asked Walman, "How's the painblock holding up?" 

"Pretty well," he answered sleepily. 

"Why don't you take a nap? We'll try to be quiet, okay?" Julia suggested, then as Walman closed his eyes, she crossed back over to Alonzo's bedside, running her glove once again over his head and neck. 

Danziger gave her a questioning look, and she responded, "He's not out of the woods yet, but the swelling has gone down dramatically. In fact, seeing the extent of the damage to his skull, I am surprised that he's alive at all." 

Danziger could see that the doctor and the woman were at war with each other for a moment as Julia's voice and hands began to shake. 

"Julia, he's going to be okay," Danziger said, again making promises he couldn't keep. 

"How do you know?" she asked harshly. "How can you possibly know that?" 

He reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and his gesture of concern seemed to break down a wall within her as she suddenly burst into tears. "Hey, doc," Danziger began, pulling her into a warm hug she desperately needed, "he'll pull through this okay. He's tougher than he looks." 

She leaned against him, taking some of his strength and assurance for herself. "John, I can't do it," she sobbed. "We're no closer to understanding this mystery disease. All we know is what we don't know. I have no idea how these damned implants figure into things. And I have no idea why Alonzo is even still alive at this point." 

She pulled away from him, wiping the tears from her face and recomposing herself. "I pulled pieces of tree bark out of his brain tissue," she explained hoarsely. "His skull was practically crushed over a five centimeter area. But the tissue itself was pink and healthy, like it had begun to heal itself from the moment of impact." 

"So you got to him in enough time to make a difference," Danziger responded. 

"No, I didn't," she replied emotionally. "By the time I got there, there was still a tremendous amount of swelling and the nanites and proteins did help with that, but there's no way given that much exposed tissue and damage that he could have been in as good a shape as he was. He should have been dead before I got to him, and that terrifies me, John."

Julia looked down at Alonzo, worry and tenderness on her face and took his hand. "I don't know why he's still with us," she whispered. Danziger just listened, not really in a position to appreciate all she was saying, but aware that she felt as though something very unexplainable had happened. 

"While I was cleaning the wound," she continued quietly, "I scanned the area on the microscopic level to be sure I had gotten all the debris." Julia looked up at Danziger, her eyes troubled. "His biostat implant appears to have completely infiltrated his brain. Microscopic threads run throughout all the levels of tissue." She paused. "John, we are all basically cyborgs. Whatever these things do, they aren't simply reporting our health." 

"Morgan wondered if they allowed station authorities to read our minds," Danziger offered in a half-joking manner. 

"Probably not something as specific as our thoughts, but they could report our emotional states and basic brain activities," Julia replied reasonably. "Given the context of where a person was, it is conceivable that these implants could report enough information to give an idea of what the person was doing and how they felt about it." 

"That explains a lot," Danziger sighed. "I always wondered why security seemed to show up before the bar fight ever really got started good. And they somehow always managed to grab me first out of the crowd." He tried to keep his comments light, but deep inside, he was seriously troubled by the idea that someone had known every move he made, every feeling. 

"Maybe," Julia began hesitantly, "the planet is using the implants to talk to you and Bess."

At first, he mentally railed against the idea, but then realized that it made sense. "She's gotten a lot better at reaching us and making us understand her," he said. "Maybe she understands these implants better than we do." 

He reached up unconsciously to the back of his neck, triggering a memory. "What was killing you is now healing you," he murmured. "Could that be another function? Do they also somehow heal us?"

"I don't know," Julia replied in quiet desperation. "Add that to the long list of things I don't know." 

Danziger put his arm around her shoulder to give her another squeeze. "We'll figure it all out," he said gently. 

The door suddenly flew open to admit a very excited Uly, followed by True with Yale close at his heels calling to him. 

"He's back!" Uly cried. "I know he's on the Dreamplane again!" 

Before he could respond, Danziger felt Bess's unmistakable presence Dreaming to him. "John, Alonzo's back!" she called excitedly. 

He slipped more effortlessly than he ever had into the Dreamplane and called to Alonzo. 

"Hey, John," came a quiet reply. Alonzo was there, hazy and indistinct, but there. 

"It's good to see you, buddy," John answered from the heart. Bess also stood with them, beaming in that irrepressible way she had. "You feeling okay?"

"I guess," came Alonzo's slightly bemused answer. "It's been pretty weird. I can't wake up, but at least I'm here." 

"It might be a while longer before you're back with us completely," John replied evenly. 

"We're just glad you're back this far," Bess added. "It was very scary back there." 

"Why do I feel like Uly is somewhere around here?" Alonzo asked distractedly. 

"I think he's Dreaming to you Terrian style," John replied. "Drop in on him for a minute and let him know you're okay." 

Alonzo faded into the mists of the Dreamplane, but in some strange way, John still felt like he was there. Bess came closer. "Are you okay yourself?" John asked her. 

"I'm fine. Morgan's taking good care of me. He thinks I'm asleep," she answered lightheartedly. 

"Whatever you do, don't tell him you've been Dreaming to me," John retorted. "I am supposed to stay away from you." 

"He'll be fine," she said dismissively. 

"I'm going to check in with Julia and let her know we've talked to Alonzo," John replied. 

As he shifted his awareness back to the med lab, he heard Bess call to him, "Bring her back with you." 

"John!" Julia was calling as he opened his eyes. "Tell me what's going on in there!" He glanced around to see Uly deep in Dreaming mode, one hand stretched out over Alonzo's chest. 

"He's okay, Julia. He's there talking to Uly right now," Danziger responded. "Bess thinks I need to bring you in to see him." 

"Bess?" Morgan asked sharply from the doorway behind him. "Are you Dreaming with Bess again?"

"She just came to tell me Alonzo was back," Danziger responded firmly, yet reasonably. Morgan looked at him with a deep distrust, but did not pursue the issue. 

"Can you really do that?" Julia asked. "Can you take me onto the Dreamplane?" 

Danziger closed his eyes for a moment and reached out to the planet for permission. "Mom's willing to give it a try if you are," he responded. "She says she thinks she knows us well enough to get through to you." He opened his eyes then and gave her a long look of caution. "The first time is a little extreme. Just hang with me, okay?" 

Julia's nod was a little weak, but she took a deep breath and held very still as she felt Danziger place a warm hand on her shoulder at the base of her neck. Suddenly it seemed like the world was jerked out from under her feet and she was falling through a bright white mist that swirled around her. 

Something that felt like fire or electricity coursed down her back and up into her head, and she gasped in pain and shock. She was surprised to feel a strong arm around her—could you feel things on the Dreamplane? She'd always thought that the Dreamplane would be all images and thoughts. 

She looked over to see that John had his arm around her waist, supporting her until she was steady enough to stand on her own. "You all right, doc?" he asked. 

She stammered an affirmative and then looked around to see Bess also standing there, smiling at her in that sweet way she had. The doctor in Julia noted immediately that Bess's arm was completely healed. 

"No pain on the Dreamplane," Bess noted airily as she noticed Julia's consternation. 

"Call to him," John suggested. "I think he'd rather hear from you than me." 

Julia looked around the strange bright landscape that surrounded them. It seemed very much like the plain around the compound, but there were no buildings, no sign of any human presence. "Alonzo?" she called tentatively. 

"Julia?" came a response from behind her. "How did you get here?"

"Ask John," she answered as she watched him approach. Back in the med lab, Alonzo's face was swollen and bruised, his hair was still matted with blood in spots. But here---here he was as fresh-faced and handsome as he'd been in the cockpit of the Roanoke where he'd asked her to celebrate life. She couldn't believe her eyes or her heart. 

He strode toward her, his dark eyes flashing, that rakish smile on his face—that smile that could light a room. She ran toward him and threw her arms around him, glad to know that you could touch on the Dreamscape, that his arms could hold her close as she sobbed in joy and relief to have him back with her again. 

John and Bess stepped away from them. "You did good," Bess said softly. Then she addressed the air. "Thanks, Mom," she whispered, brushing a tear away from her eye. 

"You did too," John said, giving her a one armed hug of congratulations and a kiss on the head. "Now, get yourself back to Morgan before he decks me." 

Back in the med lab, True wandered away from the unmoving crowd around Alonzo's bedside to join Morgan and Magus at Walman's side. 

"This is creepy," True murmured. "What are they doing?" she asked Morgan. 

"Well," Morgan began with assurance and authority, then backed off as he realized he didn't know. "They're talking on the Dreamplane, I guess." 

"This whole Dreamplane business freaks me out," Walman murmured. "And I'm not the only one." 

"It was really bizarre how Danziger and Bess could talk to each other that way," Magus agreed. "And the way they knocked out that ZED was just scary."

"You're telling me," Morgan interjected. "I was right in the middle of that one. The planet sure packs a mean punch." 

"Can we trust it?" Walman asked. "What if all this we're seeing is part of a big brainwashing job that's getting pulled on us?" 

"True, has your dad started to act differently?" Magus asked. 

"Well," True considered the question carefully, "he's mostly the same old dad. But I guess he has been acting a little different." 

"How about Bess?" Magus turned the question to Morgan. 

"Mostly the same old Bess, but I'd have to agree with True, she has been a little different since all this started," he replied. 

"What about you, Morgan?" Walman asked, a little bit of edge in his voice. "You've been in there too. Are you different?" 

Morgan thought for a moment. If he ever wanted to undermine Danziger's authority over the group, now was the time. If he seriously thought for a moment that Danziger was trying to take Bess away from him, now was the time. But if he ever had to face the planet again, he'd have to come clean. He did not want to make the planet angry with him. 

Finally he admitted, "I do feel a little different, but I think it's in a good way. I've done some things here that I'm not proud of. The planet knows that, but still gave me a chance to help. Guys, this may look weird, but I think it's a good thing." 

He walked out the door, casting a look back toward the Dreaming crew, then went to find Bess. Maybe if he worked really hard at it, he could learn to Dream to her himself. 


End file.
